Cowboy Way (2 page)
And it didnt matter to him. He didnt think it would be an issue. Until he saw Ryan sitting behind the wheel of that old truck and knew he was in trouble.
“So, Jake, how long have you been here? This a family place?” Ryan was trying to make conversation without sounding too nosy or too interested.
“Well, this was my grans place. She passed on two years ago and left it to me. My dad was so pissed because she did. She was my moms mom. My dad had big dreams for me to go into the family business. I gave it a try and decided it wasnt for me. I used to spend a month here every summer when I was little and my mom was still alive. I loved it and couldnt wait to come every year.” The smile on his face was one of memories and happiness. It was beautiful.
“What was the family business?” Ryan couldnt stop himself from asking the question, but was sorry he did when Jake stopped smiling.
Those two words spoke volumes. “Sorry, didnt mean to pry.” Ryan was really starting to wish he had kept his mouth shut.
But Jake looked over at him and gave a shy smile again. “No, its okay. I just dont like to think about it much. Did two tours in Afghanistan. It was enough. Got out as soon as I could. Trust me; home is so much better.”
Ryan smiled back. “Got a couple of cousins over there, Joel and Paul. They want to talk about it as much as you, so I understand.” Jake nodded and finished off his beer. Noticing Ryans empty, he raised his and Ryan nodded. Jake hopped off the rail and went in to grab a couple more beers.
When he came back out he passed Ryan one of the cold bottles, fingers brushing, feeling a jolt at the touch. He threw caution to the wind and sat down beside Ryan on the swing. They sat rocking quietly for a few minutes.
“I like the room you gave me. Dont think I have ever had one quite so big.” Ryan came from a big family, so rooms were usually shared.
“It was my grans sewing room. It sat for a year after she passed, but my wife had ideas about turning this place into a bed-and-breakfast kind of thing.” Jake shook his head. “Should have known then.” He sighed, and Ryan realized that he was talking more to himself than Ryan.
But Ryan couldnt help himself. Shutting up was never one of his strong points. “Should have known what? Wait, thought you said you werent married?”
“Huh? Oh, Im not. We decided that things just werent going to work, with us. Marrying her was another one of those things my dad wanted me to do. And what I should have known was that we wanted two different things. She was never going to be content here, being a ranchers wife. And this is the only place I ever wanted to be.”
They both sat there, contemplating things, neither in a big hurry to go anywhere. Ryan couldnt help but wonder about how comfortable he felt sitting there, although the heat he was feeling wasnt entirely from the air. And damn if Jake didnt smell delicious! All sweaty and horsy, like hay and leather. Ryan knew he had to get out of there in a hurry before he did something stupid. Like sniff him.
“Well, its a beautiful place, and I cant wait to get to know yo… it better.” He gave a yawn that wasnt completely fake. Hed driven a long way in a couple of days, and he was feeling a little stiff and tired. “Think Im gonna clean up and hit the hay so I can get up at five with you, get a head start and all. Do you mind if I take advantage of the tub? A good soak should work some of the aches and pains of the long drive out.”
Jake couldnt look at him as he swallowed and nodded his head. “Help yourself. Theres towels and stuff in the closet in the hall.” Without thinking about it, he patted Ryans knee, sending off another jolt. “Have a good sleep.”
He stood to let Ryan past and watched him go into the house before sitting down heavily on the swing again. How in the hell was he supposed to sleep with the image of his new hand, wet, naked, and hot, in
his
tub, stuck in his head. He was in so much trouble.
was sitting there with his head in his hands, Ryan was getting to the bathroom as quickly as possible. He went into his room, grabbed some clean boxers and sweatpants, and his shower gear. He headed back to the bathroom and made sure the door was locked as he had a feeling that he might need a little privacy. He reached over and started the tub, getting it nice and hot before stripping out of his clothes and climbing in. The hot water felt good, and he was glad he had decided to do it.
As he lay there soaking, his thoughts drifted to his new boss. Why in the hell did he have to be so gorgeous? And single. And adorable. All he wanted to do was get away and start over. Now he was almost in a more precarious position than before. But here, at least, no one was threatening to kill him. Yet. And he could get over this attraction. He just needed to remind himself of how important this was. But all he could think about was the picture in his brain of how Jake had looked when he first saw him. All strong legs and hard abs, riding that fucking horse.
Without thinking, Ryans hand had drifted down to his cock and started stroking it. He had been half hard since he got there, and with only a few strokes, he was beyond stopping. He needed to come so bad, he was aching. His hand sliding up and down in the water made a delicious friction on his cock, and he bit his lip hard to keep from moaning too loudly.
He brought his other hand up to rub over his chest, stopping to tease his nipples before sliding it down to rub his balls. God. In his head Jake was sliding off the horse before coming over and grabbing him, kissing him wildly before dropping to his knees in front of Ryan. His breath was coming faster, and he was having a harder time keeping quiet.
The hand on his cock was moving faster while the other one slid further back, one finger rubbing around his puckered hole before sliding in, creating another kind of erotic pressure. Ryan was so close, and he couldnt help the small moans escaping his throat. Dream Jake undid Ryans jeans and pulled them down, reaching to slide Ryans cock out of his boxers before plunging his mouth down until his nose was buried in the soft curly hair framing Ryans throbbing hard-on. In his mind, Jake hummed his approval of the hands that came down to stroke his face, and that thought, along with the finger in his ass sending sparks up his spine, was enough to push him over the edge.
His back arched, shoving his cock into his fist, and he couldnt stop the low, quiet moan of Jakes name that slid out from between his bite-swollen lips. He lay there panting, coming down, and gave a smile at how relaxed his muscles felt now. Guess there was more than one way to work out aches and pains. How was he going to deal with Jake tomorrow? He was so screwed.
Jake came into the house, put away the dishes that had dried in the drainer, and got coffee ready for morning. All the while, he was trying to talk himself out of the attraction he was feeling for his new ranch hand. He had known for a while that he was gay, but he had never done anything about it because he was so busy living the life his father had laid out for him. Marry a girl, any girl, didnt matter. Join the army, have a couple of kids, and there you go. His fathers perfect fantasy. Unfortunately for Winston Evans, it wasnt Jakes.
Mikayla was a nice girl, beautiful, funny, and no more in love with Jake than he was with her. All she cared about was having an army husband, having babies, and lunching with the ladies every week. Living in the middle of nowhere on a ranch, looking after horses and fixing up an old farm house, was not on her agenda.
So, by mutual decision, she had moved out ten months ago, and he had received and signed the divorce papers a month ago. Since then, he had been working like a man possessed. Fixing up the barn and taking care of the horses were his first priority now. He had not even been thinking about a sex life because, to be honest, up till now, it was nothing to write home about. Sex was pleasant enough, just kind of a letdown. Definitely not the mind-blowing experience he had been led to believe by his friends.
The arrival of Ryan was changing all that. Suddenly, his sex life seemed very important, and he had to get a grip on things, so to speak. He smiled at the unintentional pun running through his mind. Just because Ryan was gay didnt mean he was interested, and Jake was sort of like a dog chasing a car, anyhow, not knowing what to do with him if he caught him.
He wasnt living in the dark ages. He had a computer, and surfing the net had brought up sites like Tube8, and the physical side was sort of self-explanatory, anyway. He just wasnt sure how to get started, and were there any rules? Sex with guys had to be different, right? Not that he had a lot of experience with sex, period, being able to count the number of girls on one hand, but Jake was pretty sure that if anyone could screw it up, it would be him, and that would not be very good for the boss/employee relationship.
Jake stood in the middle of the kitchen for a second, running his fingers nervously through his hair. He looked at the door leading to the hallway where Ryans bedroom was and headed for it, intending to check and see if Ryan needed anything before heading up.
He walked down the hall, noticing the bedroom door was open, so he went to the bathroom door and raised his hand to knock. Before he could do anything, he heard Ryans voice, out of breath, moaning what sounded suspiciously like Jakes name.
Holy shit! Ryan was in there right now, naked, wet, and if Jake was any judge of breathy moans, he was jerking off, thinking about Jake. Fuck, Jake was rock hard in two seconds flat.
Guess that answers any lingering questions about the gay thing,
he thought. He had never heard anything so hot in his life. Until the next moan came, louder, more out of breath. Jake turned and walked, as quietly as he could, down the hall and through the door before he did something stupid, like breaking down the door and demanding Ryan fuck him right there in the bathroom. Or fucking Ryan in the shower, or both.
He hurried up to his room as fast as the raging hard-on in his jeans would let him. He walked into his bedroom quickly before closing the door and making sure it was locked. He pulled his shirt off and rubbed himself through his jeans before undoing them and kicking them off. He stood there for a moment, stroking his aching cock, looking for some relief. He finally gave in, went over to his bed, and threw himself across it before licking his palm and reaching back down to slick his cock from tip to base.
He quickly found a rhythm, sliding his thumb across the slit at the top on every stroke. He pictured himself on his knees, Ryans cock in his mouth, using his hands to grab that beautiful ass, pulling him deeper in while Ryans hand gripped his hair in an almost painful hold. Jake had never sucked a cock in his life, but he had a feeling he would be good at it, mostly because he was really desperate to do it.
He imagined looking up and seeing Ryan looking down at him, those brown eyes almost black with lust. Dream Ryan was nodding, and Jake let go of Ryans hip with one hand, sliding it down to take his own cock into his hand, stroking like he was now, while he kept up the suction on Ryans delicious cock. He could hear quiet moaning, only vaguely aware that it was coming from himself. He bit his lip in an effort to quiet his moans, and when Dream Ryans body tightened before shooting hot come down Jakes throat, Jake gave one last stroke to his own cock and exploded all over his hand and stomach.
He lay there for a few minutes, trying to catch his breath, before finally getting up and walking naked to the attached bathroom and turning on the shower. He threw himself under the hot water, washing away the evidence of his solo activities, wondering what act of fate had pushed Ryan Andrews into his path at a time when he was just trying to get his life straightened out.
He washed himself off and realized that he was starting to get hard again, just thinking about Ryan. He reached over, turned off the hot water, and stood under the cold spray, trying to get control over his body. It wasnt working very well. He got out of the shower, dried himself off, and slid his shivering body into bed, naked. How in the hell was he gonna face Ryan in the morning? He was so screwed!
next morning Ryans alarm went off at five, and he rolled out of bed and quickly got dressed. When he opened the bedroom door, he could smell the tantalizing aroma of fresh coffee, so he made a quick stop in the bathroom before heading to the kitchen.
When he opened the door, his mouth started to water, and it had nothing to do with the food he saw being prepared. Standing at the stove was Jake, shirtless, wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants that sat low on his hips. His hair was messy and curled, and Ryan had no problems imagining how Jake would look waking up beside him first thing in the morning.
He took a deep breath before continuing into the room. “Morning, Jake.” Jake started at Ryans voice before turning around with a smile on his face.
“Mornin, Ryan, howd you sleep?” Apparently when Jake was not quite awake, that drawl was more pronounced, and it crawled up Ryans spine. He turned quickly toward the coffeepot, grabbing a cup that was sitting there, and filled it up, hand shaking, trying not to let Jake notice.
“Good, comfy bed you got in there.” Ryan was blushing. How could he do this if everything he said sounded like an invitation to his own ears? He took a quick gulp of coffee, hissing at the burn in his mouth.
Jake hid a smile. “Careful, Ryan, its hot!”
He turned back to the stove and finished taking up the last of the bacon before turning back to Ryan, who was leaning against the counter by the sink. “How many eggs?”
Ryan held up a couple of fingers before offering to help. “What can I do?” He tried desperately not to stare at Jakes lean body.
“Nothing, I got it.” He popped a couple of pieces of bread into the toaster on the counter before expertly adding the eggs to the pan. By the time they were done, so was the toast. Jake had it all dished up and on the table with the practiced ease of someone who had been doing it for a long time.